By Antonio Vanuzzo, Sharon Smyth and Christos Ziotis
(Bloomberg) — Pacific Investment Management Co., Oaktree Capital Group LLC and Bain Capital are among bidders for 1 billion euros ($1.2 billion) of soured loans being sold by Alpha Bank AE, people familiar with the matter said.
The portfolio, dubbed “Project Jupiter,” comprises loans backed by real estate or extended to small and midsize companies, the people said, asking not to be named because the deal is private. The three bidders are among 10 suitors preparing to submit non-binding offers before a July 9 deadline while final offers are due in September, the people said.
Officials at Alpha Bank and Pimco declined to comment. An external spokeswoman for Oaktree also declined to comment. An external representative for Bain Capital Credit didn’t respond to requests for comment.
Alpha Bank is one of four Greek lenders classed as “systemic” by regulators and therefore required to hold larger capital buffers. It sold a 3.7 billion euro block of unsecured non-performing loans to B2Holding in March, as it reduces a24.5 billion-euro bad debt stock.
The Athens-based lender reported a 35.2 percent NPL ratio at the end of the first quarter of 2018, little-changed from 34.9 percent as of December 2017 but the coverage ratio rose to 73 percent from 67 percent.